Day 49 Saturday 9 July 2016

Awake at 6am & a bit of email checking, blogging & photo sorting before some fantastic homemade treats for breakfast. The umbilical cord has been cut, we are on our own. We departed Subotica at 10am & Google Maps guided us on our journey south towards Novi Sad. Again lots of very flat farmland, lots of sunflowers & corn & a good dual carriageway Motorway with a 120km/hr speed limit. Some cars sped past us going a lot faster than that. An hour & 20 minutes later we parked near cousin Klarika’s unit & rang the bell. It is 5 years since we have seen Klara & Zoli & their children Dora & David, again very very good to catch up. They can all speak English, the children especially well, so we chatted for ages before sharing a magnificent Hungarian goulash, it was delicious & I helped myself to a 2^nd bowl. More chatting then around 4pm we drove around to our hotel & checked in, this is one of the best hotels we have stayed in on our European travels. Very pleasantly surprised, didn’t expect the hotel to be so lovely in Serbia.

Next was a walk around the city centre of Novi Sad, the footpaths & cafes are teeming with people, we lucked in, this weekend is the EXIT Festival, one of the largest music festivals in Europe & there are young people everywhere. There are lots of sidewalk cafes & bars, packed & humming with activity. The old Hungarian era buildings around the city square are beautiful, there are a couple of communist era buildings that are downright ugly & neglected. We also have an obligatory ice cream. We then walk down to the Danube River & stroll along the banks, along with what seems the other half of the population of Novi Sad. The EXIT Festival is being held at the old fortress of Petrovaradin on the other bank of the Danube & we can hear music floating across the river. There are young people everywhere sitting on the edges listening to the music & talking. Around 8.30pm we head back to Klaras for pizza & more chatting before getting back to our hotel around 11pm. Another great day.